Let Go
by Wrenlet
Summary: Ulrich, after several years, returns to his hometown to meet up with his longtime pal Jeremie and discuss things. Surprise encounters with old acquaintences lead to ended relationships and new ones. One-shot.


_A/N: I wrote this a long time ago and rediscovered it just today. I thought I'd might as well upload it. Enjoy._

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**Let Go**

It was the perfect day to be out and about—the sun shined warmly on the heads of those brave enough to venture out into the busy streets and sidewalks, and not a cloud dared to inhibit the beautiful summer sky. Ulrich Stern was among these courageous souls, but he hardly noticed the crowds as he strolled down the streets with his hands in the pockets of his dark washed jeans toward a tiny café where he planned to meet up with an old friend of his.

The balmy wind ruffling his light brown hair, the salty smell of the river, the chatter of the passerby—all were familiar to his senses. It had been six years since he had graduated from Kadic Academy, and he realized with a small pang of regret how much he had missed this city.

Ulrich checked his watch, and with a start, he realized he was running quite late. He sped up his pace, pushing his way through the hordes of people.

He turned the corner and headed down a less-traveled street, and suddenly, vague memories surfaced to the front of his mind. This was the road where the five of them had snuck outside of the iron gates of Kadic after sundown to grab a slice of pizza at the pizza parlor and to hang out at the park, talking as friends do late into the night.

Suddenly, a bright purple awning of a buzzing café appeared in Ulrich's vision, and he knew he had come to the right place. Just then, he spotted a thin, pale-skinned man in a tidy gray suit sitting at one of the round, outdoor tables, typing away at his computer. Ulrich recognized him at once.

"Hey, Jer," he said taking the seat opposite of him.

Surprised, the man looked up, but when he saw it was Ulrich, he beamed and quickly stowed the laptop in his black leather briefcase.

"Ulrich! How have you been?" he asked giving his friend a hardy handshake.

"Just fine. And you?"

"Good, good…" Jeremie said, leaning his elbows on the table. He thought for a moment, playing with his straw. Then he took a sip of his water and questioned, "So, how is Yumi?"

Ulrich leaned back in his chair and looked out towards the cars lazily rolling by in the street. "That's… a good question. I honestly have no idea. She stopped replying to my emails about, oh, two years ago." He sighed and turned back toward his friend, who was giving him the "are-you-kidding-me" look over the silver metal rim of his glasses.

"Really?" Jeremie asked incredulously, "Wow… I thought you two would be the last to lose touch."

Ulrich laughed. "I don't know about that. You and Aelita sure gave us a run for our money. How is she by the way?"

Jeremie blushed slightly and stared down at the table. "I'm going to propose to her next week," he said softly, a faint, yet proud smile on his lips.

"Hey! That's great news!" Ulrich exclaimed, leaning across the table to ruffle his friend's hair.

Jeremie gave him a slightly annoyed look, and did his best to smooth down his thin hair again. The two sat in an awkward silence for a moment. Ulrich felt a bit scruffy in his jeans and sweater next to his polished friend. Since he was a professional soccer player, however, he had no need for business suits and leather briefcases.

"Yumi's in town, you know. She's living with her parents for the summer," Jeremie said suddenly.

"Oh?" asked Ulrich distantly. He had been trying to remember what exactly they had been arguing about that had made her stop talking to him.

"What time does your plane take off? You're just here for the day, right?" asked the blond.

"Uh, yeah," said Ulrich, drawn back to reality, "Six o'clock."

Jeremie glanced at his watch. "It's two o'clock now, and I'm assuming you want to be back at the airport by four, the drive there being an hour. So if you would like to visit her, I would suggest going now."

"Oh, a—what? No, Jeremie. _No way_," Ulrich said firmly, quickly shaking his head, "The last thing Yumi said to me is that she never wanted to see me again, and I'm definitely _not_ going to her house. Her parents hate me, remember?"

Jeremie chuckled and took another swig of water. "You never know. Well, if you're not going anywhere, _I'm_ going to a meeting. It was nice seeing you again." And with a polite nod, Jeremie stood up and joined the stream of people on the sidewalk and eventually disappeared from view.

Ulrich snorted with exasperation. So much for lunch. He knew his friend was trying to bait him, but he also knew he was right. Yumi was his best friend, and it was time to set things right again. Sighing, he stood up from the table and ran his fingers through his carefully-gelled hair.

"Ohmigawd. Ulrich?! Is that you?" said a nasally voice behind him that he immediately recognized.

"Hey, Sissi," he said turning to greet the speaker. "Wow, you look great."

"Thanks," she said, flipping her long, raven black hair over her shoulder. Ulrich noticed that she had gotten a little taller since graduation and more beautiful, too. Of course, she had been a royal pain during most of his education at Kadic, but she matured and did a lot of growing-up in those last few precious years before graduation.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, playfully crinkling her delicate nose.

"Oh, I'm just in town for the day. I was supposed to meet Jeremie here and have lunch with him, but he had to go to a business meeting. I guess I was a little late. What are _you_ doing here?"

"Oh, I work here," Sissi said, beaming and fingering the strings of her black apron.

"Ohmigawd," she said again, "I saw you on TV the other day. My roommate insisted on watching the game." She jokingly rolled her eyes.

"You did?" Ulrich asked, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

Sissi nodded, giving him a coy smile. "Yeah, you were amazing!" she gushed.

"Thanks," he said, grinning shyly.

Suddenly, her face fell and her manner turned from flirty to serious, as though someone had flipped a switch. "I heard about Odd," she mumbled, putting her hand on his arm, "I'm really sorry."

Ulrich shook his head and stared down at his feet. "Yeah. Me too." It had been a few years since the accident, but it was still tough to talk about. The pair stood in silence for a moment, both wrapped up in their own thoughts.

Suddenly, the switch again was flipped, and Sissi's mood turned from gloomy to cheery once more. She never lingered on a melancholic topic for long.

"Yumi was here yesterday," she said, fiddling with her name pin, "She asked about you."

Ulrich's eyebrows shot up. "Really?" he asked, his hope restored.

"Yeah," said Sissi, "I think you should go see her. She really misses you."

Ulrich blinked. "She said that?"

Sissi gave him a sly smile. "No, but I could tell. Woman's intuition. I'd better get back to work now, though. See you later, Ulrich dear! Call me sometime, okay?" She took out a piece of paper, scribbled her number on it, and then pressed it into his hand.

Ulrich watched dumbly as she scurried off to take an irritated customer's order. _Yumi had asked about him?_

He sighed, shoving her phone number in his pocket, and strolled out onto the sidewalk, torn between returning to the airport immediately to try to catch an earlier flight and seeing Yumi again. What would happen if he randomly showed up on her doorstep? Would she yell at him or greet him with open arms? If she slammed the door in his face, it would change nothing, but if she was glad to see him again, he might have a shot at repairing their relationship. What did he have to lose?

Reluctantly, he set off in the direction of the residential part of the city, hoping all the while that something would come up, and he would have to turn back. But no such luck. The residential area was considerably cooler with trees offering their shade to any pedestrian to walk under their leafy crowns. Manicured lawns surrounded medium-sized homes that weren't elegant, but had a kind of quiet pride to them. There was a restful silence in the atmosphere, a kind of sleepy peace that makes you want to spread out in the cool shade and doze the day away.

Soon Ulrich came upon a gray-painted, fenced-in house that he immediately recognized as Yumi's. Tidy bushes lined the sides of the house, and fragrant blooms inhibited the flowerbeds throughout the yard. The upstairs windows were resting wide open, and clean white curtains rustled lazily in the breeze.

His heart urged him to fling open the gate and race up the steps, but his brain was completely numb. He just stood there like he had so many times before, hands in pockets, looking up at the house. Was she really in there?

Suddenly, a shadow moved behind one of the windows. She had to be in there. Slowly, Ulrich swung open the squeaky wrought iron gate and trudged up the stairs which seemed to go on forever. Finally, he reached the wooden front door, a strong sense of déjà vu hitting him like a mighty wave.

Slowly, he lifted his hand to ring the doorbell. About an inch away from the button, he hesitated. His heart pounded. Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead, even though it was a fairly mild day for July. Doubt crept back into his mind, but he shook it away. _I can do this_.

With a feeling of finality, he pressed the little round button. He could hear the chimes ringing from inside the house. Ulrich's breath came faster. His heart raced within his ribcage. Maybe he had made a mistake.

Before he could turn and run away, the door opened, and a red-haired man with square, wire-rimmed glasses and sporting a Metallica t-shirt stood before a quite bewildered Ulrich. Several tattoos ran up and down his muscled arms, and his lips twisted into a faint sneer.

"Can I help you?" asked the man in a forced polite manner.

_Oh crud_. This guy looked like he could probably eat Ulrich for breakfast. Had he come to the right house? No, this was definitely it. Ulrich's feelings of panic worsened, but he didn't let any his thoughts show through his practiced calm expression.

"Um, yeah… This is the Ishiyama residence, right?" asked Ulrich, craning his neck to see if he could find a familiar piece of furniture or picture over the man's shoulder. The red-head noticed this, and shifted so that the whole of his six-feet seven-inch frame was blocking most of the doorway.

"What's it to you?" he asked, his dark blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Before he had time to respond, Ulrich heard footsteps from behind the slender giant, and a familiar voice floated to his ears.

"Frederic, who's at the door?" a woman's voice called from behind him. Suddenly, an inky-haired woman appeared, pushing her way out from behind the man's arm.

"Yumi," Ulrich breathed. Recognizing her name, she looked up, and Yumi's dark-as-night eyes met Ulrich's. He gasped softly, and he heard her do the same. It was as though the world had stopped, and they were caught in time between moments.

Frederic, obviously uncomfortable, cleared his throat menacingly, breaking the spell.

"Frederic," Yumi said slowly without taking her eyes of Ulrich, "would you mind running to the store for me? I need bread and eggs for tonight."

Frederic shifted uneasily, his tough façade crumbling under Yumi's firm request. "But—"

"Just go," she said forcefully, her eyes still on Ulrich, who was struggling to breathe. He hadn't seen Yumi since Odd's funeral, and she hadn't changed one bit in appearance. She was still kick-butt gorgeous.

Giving one last wary glance at Ulrich, Frederic shrugged and pushed past the two staring wordlessly at each other on the top step. The slam of the gate broke the silence.

"Who was that?!" Ulrich snarled as soon as Frederic was out of sight. "And _why_—"

Yumi covered her ears with her delicate, pale hands and squeezed her eyes shut. "No! Stop it, Ulrich! _**Stop**_ it! I know you're jealous, but you have _no_ right to be this way."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, his voice saturated with sarcasm, "Who was the one who stopped talking to me for two years? Huh? Did it occur to you that I still might have feelings for you? Or do you just not _care_?"

"Ulrich!" Yumi screamed, her eyes fierce, "Just stop! Please!"

"No!" Ulrich bellowed, his face turning red with rage. "You tell _me_ why you discarded me like a piece of trash, even after I made my feelings absolutely clear!"

"Oh sure," she retorted, her tone slightly hysterical, "Every time you went into your jealous rages, every time you blew me off because you were pissed at the world, I just _knew_ that was true love."

"And this Frederic guy," Ulrich continued savagely, pretending not to hear her, "who the hell does he think he is?!"

Suddenly, Yumi's expression turned deathly serious, the anger melting from her face.

"Ulrich… Frederic is my _fiancé,_ okay_? _It's too late to be discussing this." Her tone was almost gentle as she said this.

Ulrich felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. _Fiancé? Yumi is going to be married…?_ He stood there, at a loss for words. He felt as if someone had deflated everything inside of him, leaving only his heart to beat painfully within his empty ribcage. He had lost. Defending her from William and XANA, trying to win her good favor, everything he had fought for, gone.

"Ulrich…" Yumi whispered, tears forming in her dark eyes, "I'm so sorry."

She kept talking, apologizing, but Ulrich didn't hear a word she said. It was as though he were in a dream. Cold hands gripped his stomach, and his head felt light and dizzy. Slowly, he turned and started down the steps, his sporty Adidas shoes striking every single stair with a _thud_. Yumi called after him, but he kept on walking, through the gate and down the sidewalk, leaving behind memories with every single step.

Ever since the beginning, she had treated him as a child, like a little brother, and all the while he was secretly in love. He couldn't count the nights he had spent lying awake, thinking of what he would say to her next—and what she would say in return. He loved her raw pride, free spirit, and everything else about that girl. But it was obvious _she_ didn't feel that way about him.

It was time to let go.

As soon as he rounded the corner, he took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, flipped open his sleek black phone, and dialed a number.

"Sissi? Hey, it's Ulrich."


End file.
